Meeting On Plan For Npr Link Calms Wesleyan Radio Dispute

MIDDLETOWN — The furor over a plan to bring National Public Radio to Wesleyan University's station may have been a case of misunderstanding.

WESU station manager Jesse Sommer said his fears were alleviated after a meeting Friday hosted by Wesleyan President Doug Bennet.

Bennet has proposed that the station pick up NPR programming through a feed from WSHU, Sacred Heart University's radio station, which is affiliated with NPR.

Wesleyan officials say the plan is designed to bring more professionalism to the station and provide an ``educational context'' for students to learn the radio business. But the plan almost immediately drew objections, with assertions that it would mean a loss of student control and loss of student and community programming.

The station is located at 88.1 FM on the dial, and operates with a 1,500-watt transmitter. It can be heard through much of Connecticut -- and on clear days, station members say, in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. It's the second-oldest college radio station (Brown is the oldest), according to the WESU website. Non-student volunteers make up about half of the station's staff.

Sommer, who had been one of the most vocal critics of the plan, said Friday that he thinks the station would come out ahead as a result of it. Earlier this week, he and fellow Wesleyan student Luke Snelling proposed an alternative plan. Although that plan called for no link to NPR, aspects of it will be incorporated into this new chapter of the station's 65-year history, Sommer said.

``I'm very excited by the enterprise reflected in the report and by WESU students' overall commitment to high-quality radio programming,'' Bennet said in a statement.

Though he hadn't reported back to the station's board, as of Friday, Sommer said, the plan seemed like ``a done deal.''

``I think students and community members would be foolish to ask for more, or for changes to what we have in the plan,'' he said.

One of the main concerns was that NPR programming would run for 12 hours a day during the week, taking away practically all of the station's daytime in-house programs. WSHU station manager George Lombardi attended Friday's meeting and cleared up many of the misconceptions, Sommer said.

For one thing, it would be closer to four to eight hours a day of NPR programming, scattered throughout the day. And students would have a good deal of control over what programs WESU would pick up and when.

The plan would also allow WESU, which is on air about 20 hours a day, to take advantage of the professional resources at WSHU for fund-raising, Sommer said. Part of the plan, Wesleyan officials have said, is to eventually enable the station to pull its weight financially. It costs about $50,000 annually to run the station, Wesleyan officials say. About half of that comes from the Wesleyan Student Assembly.

Other advantages, Sommer said, are more equipment and a new security system. And on Feb. 1, he said, the station will go online.

He also said no one would lose their shows at this point. Before Friday's meeting, Sommer said the non-student volunteers were the most likely to lose their programs if WESU picked up NPR programming.

Current station members would have to re-apply to remain with WESU. That's fine with Sommer, who said some could benefit from retraining. It would serve his long-standing goal to have a more professionally run station.

The issue of a station general manager is the only matter of debate left, Sommer said. Who chooses the manager and how much control he has are the two points of contention, he said.